Top News:
Washington Post:
The WHCA turned down an offer to install ultraviolet devices to fight coronavirus transmission at its dinner on April 30, for which it has sold 2,600 tickets — White House correspondents rebuff proposal to install special lights to stop viral spread — More than 2,000 journalists …
Discussion:
Politico, @projectn95, @danaparish, @ebonyjhilton_md, Breitbart, @jreinermd, @mattbc, @ericgeller, @ddiamond, @elivalley, @maxwelltani, @jeffjarvis, @charles_gaba, @drdavidmichaels, @ebonyjhilton_md, @lmlauramarsh, @rachelbianca, @budrykzack, @karoli, New York Magazine, @dataeditor, @davidmackau, @greenfield64 and @paulkingsley7
Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:
What went wrong at Netflix: sources say VP of content Cindy Holland's departure in 2020 let chief content officer Ted Sarandos prioritize quantity over quality — As rivals toggle between schadenfreude and fear, top creators and insiders are increasingly becoming vocal about what's gone wrong with the streaming giant's culture.
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast and Charter launch a 50:50 joint venture to develop a nationwide streaming platform that will use Comcast's Flex streaming tech and its Xumo content — Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware, and contribute streamer Xumo to the joint venture …
Discussion:
Variety, New York Times, Comcast, Ad Age, TechCrunch, Deadline, MediaPost, @comcast, @alexweprin, Light Reading, CNET, @ajitpai, @davidlaz, @benmullin, Engadget, The Verge, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News and Next TV
Dell Cameron / Gizmodo:
Twitter confirms banning the promotion of HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm in 2021 via its ad platform, alongside QAnon account removal and content limiting — Twitter told the director of “Q: Into the Storm” it had “made the decision not to allow promotion of this documentary” when he tried to advertise the film.
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify Q1: revenue rose 24% YoY to €2.66B, including €282M from ads, up 31% YoY; paid subs rose 15% YoY to 182M, despite losing 1.5M in Russia; stock down 12%+ — Spotify Technology SA has spent more than a billion dollars in an effort to become the No. 1 name in podcasting …
Discussion:
Music Business Worldwide, Billboard, Financial Times, @eldsjal, TechCrunch, Investor's Business Daily, Variety, @pkafka, Business Wire, Reuters, Spotify, StreetInsider.com, @kerrymflynn, @lucas_shaw, @sarthakgh, @sarahintampa, @spotifynews, @jonporty, @lucas_shaw, @anthonyc3004, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @anthonyc3004, Axios, Engadget, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Verge and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
ESPN anchor Sage Steele sues the network and parent Disney, alleging ESPN violated her free-speech rights by retaliating for her words on a Jay Cutler podcast — Lawsuit centers on Ms. Steele's comments about Covid-19, ex-President Obama in a podcast interview last year
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @jessespector, @sheriffclarke, @jbflint, @jbflint, @jbflint and Barrett Media
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The BBC plans to cut the number of programs it makes and weighs turning more TV stations into archive services, as the company looks for £285M in annual savings — Tim Davie suggests more stations could become archive services, as he prepares to announce deep cuts
Discussion:
@jimwaterson
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Real-time TV ad measurement service iSpot.tv raises $325M from Goldman Sachs and says it had $75M in 2021 revenue, up from $51M in 2020 — The firm helps marketers track whether their ads spurred a visit to their website or a purchase. The new funding is the latest in a flurry of deals around TV ad metrics
Discussion:
iSpot.tv, Insider, Beet.TV, @megancgraham, @loupas, @zachservideo, @ispottv, Bloomberg, @airgups23, @nickcicero, @stahura, Deadline, MediaPost, Ad Age, Next TV, GeekWire, The Hollywood Reporter and Barrett Media
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
YouTube starts testing ads on Shorts, including app-install ads and other promotions; Google says that Shorts now has 30B daily views — YouTube is testing advertisements on Shorts, its short-form video feature that competes with TikTok and Instagram, Google's chief business officer told investors on Tuesday.
Discussion:
PhoneArena, Tubefilter, MediaPost, @stevekovach, 9to5Google, The Verge, Engadget and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Viacom18, which runs several TV channels and streaming services in India, raises $1.78B from Bodhi Tree, a partnership between James Murdoch and Uday Shankar — The Indian conglomerate Reliance and Viacom18 have inked a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree, an “investment platform” …
Discussion:
@refsrc, Business Today, Hollywood Reporter and Variety
Jennifer Rankin / The Guardian:
The European Commission proposes measures to protect journalists and campaigners working to expose corruption and wrongdoing from “manifestly unfounded” SLAPPs — Anti-Slapp directive would also enable EU states to refuse to recognise judgments passed in UK
Discussion:
@mafevema, @uk_domain_names, @hodlonaut, @jennifermerode and Reporters Without Borders
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
GeekWire co-founder and chairman Jonathan Sposato launches JoySauce Network, an ad-supported multimedia platform aimed at “American Asian” audiences and allies — GeekWire co-founder Jonathan Sposato has launched JoySauce Network, a new ad-supported multimedia platform aimed at the …
Discussion:
@wesieyrodriguez, @hapabarbarian, @hello_malika, @iam_sammi and GeekWire
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